Blog Traffic

November 14, 2006

More evidence the guidelines are not all that reasonable

Fans of the minutiae of the federal sentencing guidelines will find rulings of interest today from the First, Second, Sixth, Ninth and DC Circuits. A pair from the Ninth and DC Circuits are especially telling.

In US v. Martinez-Martinez, No. 06-10015 (9th Cir. Nov. 14, 2006) (available here), the Ninth Circuit holds that "discharging a firearm at a residential structure" is not a "crime of violence" under one guideline provision. Meanwhile, in US v. Adewani, No. 05-3390 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 14, 2006) (available here), the DC Circuit finds that "walking away from a halfway house" is a "crime of violence" under another guideline provision.

I have a hard time affording a presumption of reasonableness to a set of sentencing rules that results in a firearm offense not being a crime of violence, while walking away from a halfway house is.